Pope Francis is continuing his
prescribed therapy and motor exercises as he battles pneumonia
in a Rome hospital, Vatican sources said Friday.
"The Pope is continuing the therapy, the prescribed one, is
continuing the motor physiotherapy," said the sources exactly
three weeks after his hospitalization at the Policlinico
Gemelli, suffering from bilateral pneumonia.
"And in the meantime, as regards the administration of oxygen,
the alternation between night and day continues: mechanical
ventilation at night with a mask and high-flow oxygenation
during the day, through nasal cannulas".
Today the doctors, given the Pope's continuing stability,
decided that, barring exceptional events, a new bulletin will
not be released, postponing this eventuality until tomorrow.
"In the absence of medical information - sources from beyond the
Tiber said - it can be assumed that the Pontiff maintains his
stability, always within this complex framework for which
doctors are still keeping the prognosis guarded".
As far as we know, the pontiff is "following at least part of
the therapy from his armchair", while his day is also
interspersed with rest, prayer and work. There is no news of
other visits he has received, and it is not yet known how the
Angelus will take place next Sunday.
Sunday afternoon, among other things, the Lenten spiritual
exercises of the Roman Curia will begin "in spiritual communion"
with the Pope, and we will see in what form he will practice his
meditations.
Vatican sources also said it was the pope himself who wanted to
record and send a message to the faithful and others who have
voiced wishes for his recovery on Thursday night.
The sources said they believed that the Pope wanted to record
the short message in Spanish "probably to address a wider
audience".
From the sound, however, one could perceive the flow of oxygen
being administered to the Pontiff, and in some way, rather than
suffering, "certainly the effort" made by Francis in speaking.
"The decision to record the audio message matured yesterday,"
they said.
As for why yesterday, sources from beyond the Tiber emphasized
that "the desire to do so, as also emerged from last Sunday's
Angelus, was combined with the moment in which this was
possible".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
